The last two years have been… unpredictable. Varying results, fewer hiring mandates, tighter margins. Many leadership teams have quietly shifted focus – less about growth at all costs, more about profit, stability, and leverage.

If you’re a Director, that matters.

Your role today likely looks very different from when your package was first agreed. More responsibility, more pressure, more emotional labour – but not always more upside. This might be a good moment to pause and ask: is the leadership portion of my role actually worth my while?

If you’re going into that conversation, here are 10 things to consider.

10 tips before renegotiating your Director package

1. Get clear on what you’re really being paid for
   Is it billing, leadership, risk, decision-making, or holding the business together in a tough market? Be honest about where your value actually sits now.
   
2. Separate performance from market conditions
   Flat numbers don’t always mean flat contribution. Show what you’ve stabilised, retained, protected, or fixed – especially in a down cycle.
   
3. Understand the business’s current priority
   If the strategy has shifted to profit and sustainability, align your ask to that – not legacy growth metrics.
   
4. Quantify the “invisible work”
   Team retention, problem-solving, client salvage, cultural glue – leadership work is often unpaid because it’s undocumented.
   
5. Review your risk vs reward
   Are you carrying revenue risk, people risk, or reputational risk without corresponding upside? That imbalance is worth naming.
   
6. Look beyond base salary
   Consider profit share, revised commission thresholds, retention bonuses, deferred comp, or clearer long-term equity logic.
   
7. Be realistic, not apologetic
   This is not about entitlement – it’s about alignment. Calm, commercial conversations land better than emotional ones.
   
8. Pressure-test your replaceability
   If you stepped out tomorrow, what would actually break? That’s not ego – that’s leverage.
   
9. Time it strategically
   Renegotiations land best after delivery, stabilisation, or problem-solving – not during chaos or peak stress.

Be willing to hear “not now”
A good outcome isn’t always an immediate yes. Sometimes it’s clarity, a future trigger point, or a redefined role that sets you up better.

For more info on packages or strategies for your next negotiation reach out to us at [email protected]